Sinker controlling device on a straight bar knitting machine



I VlK J. VAICLA June 16, 1959 SINKER CONTROLLING DEVICE ON A STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE F lled Jan. a1. 1956 I 3 Sheets+Sheet 1 INVENTOR Janus/a0 V'c a 1/;

BY (22 f June 1.6, 1959' J. vcLAvlK 2,890,578

SINKER CONTROLLING DEVICE ON A STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 31. 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR far/'05 la a Z/az/a 2///( June 16, 1959 J, v (c vf 2,890,578

SINKER CONTROLLING DEVICE ON A STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 31. 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR fo/ras/a 1/ Z/Zr/a V176 BY MM Zh/ SINKER CONTROLLWG DEVICE ON A STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE Jarosiav Vaclavik, Gottwaldov, Czechoslovakia, assignor to Zapatlomoravsk strojirny, narodni podmk, Treble, Czechoslovakia Application .ianuary 31, 1956, Serial No. 562,397

3 Claims. ((33. 66-410) The present invention relates to a sinker and divider controlling device on a straight bar knitting machine for imparting a rearward movement jointly to all of the sinkers and dividers in the direction corresponding to the movement of their butts away from the sinker head.

In the heretofore known devices of the described type, the sinkers, which have short butts, are moved forwardly one by one in the direction corresponding to the movement of their butts toward the sinker head through the action of the moving slurcock and jacks, while the horizontal movement of the catch bar which is in permanent mesh with the long butts of the dividers is employed for effecting the following forward motion of the dividers, in unison, between the sinkers. In order to make it possible for the short butts of the sinkers to be seized and, thereafter, to permit control of the sinkers, the catch bar must be moved vertically at both reversing points, so that the catch bar undergoes both horizontal and vertical movements. Such combined movements of the catch bar require the use of a particular mechanism having a substantial disadvantage. More specifically, if all sinker and divider butts are not precisely aligned, or if the edge of any of the sinker or divider butts is damaged, after the completion of the division, the short butts of the sinkers cannot enter the catch bar. In that case, the uncontrolled sinker nibs projecting beyond the sinker head interfere with the moving thread guide and are liable to be damaged thereby.

In more recent designs of straight bar knitting machines, only horizontal movement is imparted to the catch bar which is formed of two parts capable of relative sliding movement. In this arrangement, the front part of the catch bar serves as an abutment for the sinkers, while the rear part of the catch bar functions to control the dividers, and the front and rear parts are individually controlled by respective operating cams on the main shaft and by individual cam operated linkages. However, the above mentioned more recent designs require two independent control attachments which complicate the drive mechanism of the machine and which make difiicult the precise mutual adjustment of the front and rear parts of the catch bar.

It is an object of the present invention to provide mechanism for reliably controlling the sinkers and preventing frequent failures of the latter and the resulting breakdowns, particularly in high-speed straight-bar knitting machines of extra fine needle gauge.

In accordance with an aspect of this invention, a controlling device for the sinkers and dividers includes a carrier bar which is movable toward and away from the sinker head and carries an abutment bar along its edge facing toward the sinker head, and a pivotal bar which is rockably mounted upon the carrier bar for movement between an inactive position, wherein the pivotal bar is disposed above the level of the tops of the short butts of the sinkers, and a lowered or active position, wherein the pivotal bar and the abutment bar cooperate to define the opposite sides of a downwardly opening, continuous atent groove adapted to receive the butts of the sinkers and dividers. Thus, when the pivotal bar is moved to its active position, the pivotal bar and the abutment bar cooperate to accurately line up the butts of the sinkers and dividers received therebetween and, when the carrier bar is thereafter moved in the direction away from the sinker head, the sinkers and dividers are simultaneously moved in the same direction. In the control device embodying the present invention, movement of the pivotal bar between its active and inactive positions is determined by a continuous shaft included in the drive of the usual spring-bar, while the movements of the carrier bar toward and away from the sinker head result from turning of a shaft in response to actuation by a suitable working cam.

The above, and other objects, features and advantages of the invention, will be apparent in the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment thereof which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, and wherein:

Fig. l is a perspective View of a sinker and divider controlling device embodying the present invention;

Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5 are side elevational views of the device in Fig. l, as viewed in the direction of the arrow P, and also showing the sinkers and dividers movable within the associated sinker head, which is in section, as Well as fixed guideways, the device being illustrated in various different operating positions;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the device of Fig. 1 taken along the line 66 of the latter, and showing a pivotal bar included in the device in full lines and broken lines representing its active and inactive positions, respectively; and

Fig. 7 is a view similar to those of Fig. 1 to 5, inclusive, but showing the device in still another operating position thereof.

The illustrated controlling device embodying the present invention is provided on a straight-bar knitting machine of otherwise conventional construction, and Figs. 2 to 5, inclusive, and 7 of the drawings show, in section, only those parts of the knitting machine which are necessary for an understanding of the present invention. Such illustrated parts of a conventional straight-bar knitting machine include sinkers 1 having short butts 2 and dividers 3 having long butts 4, with the sinkers and dividers being movable within a two-part sinker head 5 having a verge plate 6.

The device embodying the present invention for controlling the sinkers l and dividers 3 includes an elongated carrier bar '7 extending generally parallel to the sinker head 5 and having axles or trunnions 8 projecting from its opposite ends and rotatably supporting rollers 9 which are supported on fixed guideways 10 to guide the carrier bar 7 in its movement toward and away from the sinker head. A continuous abutment bar 11 is secured to the carrier bar 7 and extends along the longitudinal edge of the latter facing toward the sinker head 5. Two pivot bolts 12 (only one of which appears in the drawings) are fixedly mounted in the carrier bar 7 (Fig. 1) with their axes in alignment and extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the carrier bar, and a tumbler lever 13 is rockably mounted on each of the pivot bolts 12. The arms 13a of the levers 13 which extend generally in the direction of the sinker head 5 are adjustably secured to, and support a continuous pivotal bar 14 which extends generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the carrier bar 7.

The pivotal bar 14 projects beyond the longitudinal edge of the carrier bar 7 in the direction toward the sinker head and has a depending flange 14a which is spaced laterally from the free edge of the abutment bar 11 by a distance which is substantially equal to the 3 width of the butts 2 and 40f the sinkers and dividers, respectively.

The end portions 13b of the levers 13 remote from the pivotal bar 14 each carry a stub shaft 15 on which a roller 16 is rotatably mounted. Each roller 16 engages in a guiding groove 18 defined within a forked extension 18a at the free end of a disengaging lever arm 19 which extends radially from, and is fixed to, a continuous turntable control shaft 20. The control shaft 20, when rocked in the clockwise direction, as viewed in the drawings, depresses the end portions 13b of the levers 13 and thereby moves the pivotal bar 14 to a raised, inactive position (Figs. 2, 3 and 4, and as shown in broken lines on Fig. 6). On the other hand, When the control shaft 20 is turned in a counterclockwise direction, thereby to elevate the end portions 13b of the tumbler levers, the pivotal bar 14 is moved downwardly relative to the carrier bar 7 to a lowered active position (Figs. and 7, and as shown in full lines on Fig. 6). The shaft 20 which, as described above serves to control or determine the position of the pivotal bar 14 relative to the carrier bar 7, also serves to control the usual spring-bar (not shown) of the knitting machine.

In order to eifect the movements of the carrier bar 7 toward and away from the sinker head 5, the carrier bar 7 is adjustably secured at two points, which are spaced apart longitudinally along the carrier bar, to traction rods 21, only one of which appears in the drawings. The end of each traction rod 21 remote from the carrier bar 7 is pivotally mounted on a pin 22 carried by a fork 23 which is formed as an extension of a lever arm 24 which extends radially from, and is fixed to, a shaft 25. Thus, when the shaft 25 is turned in the clockwise direction, as viewed in the drawings, the carrier bar 7 and the pivotal bar 14 are moved, as a unit, in the direction toward the sinker head 5 and, conversely, when the shaft 25 is turned in the counterclockwise direction, the carrier bar 7 and pivotal bar 14 move, as a unit, in the direction away from the sinker head.

The above described device embodying the present invention operates as follows:

During the sinking operation, when the usual slurcock and jacks (not shown) act one by one on the short butts 2 of the sinkers I, the pivotal bar 14 is held in its raised, inactive position (Figs. 2, 3 and 4, and as shown in broken lines on Fig. 6) through the action of the levers 13 and 19, the shaft 20 and the usual springbar drive (notshown) associated with the shaft 20. When the pivotal bar 14 is in its raised inactive position, the lower edge of the depending flange 14a thereof is at a level above the upper ends of the short butts 2 of the sinkers 1 thereby to avoid interference with the forward movement of the individual sinkers in the direction corresponding to movement of their butts towards the sinker head 5, so that the sinkers 1 are free to be moved in that direction until the short butts 2 thereof contact the verge plate 6 (Fig. 3.)

The following forward movement of all of the dividers 3 in the direction corresponding to movement of their butts toward the sinker head 5 is effected by imparting a forward movement to the carrier bar 7 so that the abutment bar 11 will push against the long butts 4 of all of the dividers until such long butts also contact the verge plate 6 (Fig. 4). Such forward movement of the carrier bar 7 occurs in response to clockwise movement of the shaft 25 produced, for example, by the action of a working cam (not shown) on the main shaft of the knitting machine and a cooperating lever system which is actuated by such working cam. The pivotal bar 14, as previously described, participates in such forward movement of the carrier bar 7, since the levers 13 supporting the bar 14 are mounted on the carrier bar, and the rollers 16 merely roll along the guiding grooves 18 of the related levers 19 during the forward movementof pivotal bar 14 with the carrier bar 7.

Then, with the carrier bar 7 in its forward position, the shaft 20 is turned in the counterclockwise direction, as viewed in the drawings, thereby to move the pivotal bar 14 to its lowered active position through the cooperation of the levers 19 with the tumbler levers 13 pivoted at 12 on the carrier bar. When the pivotal bar 14 is in its lowered active position, as illustrated in Fig. 5 and in full line in Fig. 6, the lower edge portion of its depending flange 14a extends below the top edges of all of the butts 2 and 4 and cooperates with the forward edge of the abutment bar 11 to define a continuous, downwardly opening groove 17 therebetween in which the butts 2 and 4 are received and accurately aligned with each other.

Following the alignment of the butts 2 and 4, as described above, the shaft 25 is actuated to turn in the counterclockwise direction, and through the cooperation of the levers 24 and traction rods 21 the carrier bar 7 and the pivotal bar 14, which remains in its active position, are moved rearwardly, as a unit, thereby to effect corresponding rearward movement of the sinkers 1 and dividers 3 having their butts Z and 4, respectively, received within the continuous groove 17. After the sinkers 1 and dividers 3 have been moved rearwardly in the direction corresponding to movement of their butts away from the sinker head 5 (Fig. 7), the shaft 20 is again turned in the clockwise direction by the associated springbar drive (not shown) thereby to return the pivotal bar 14 to its raised, inactive position (Fig. 2) where the lower edge of the depending flange 14a will again be disposed above the top edges of the short butts 2 of sinkers 1 to avoid interference with the subsequent forward movement of the sinkers.

Although a particular embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to that particular embodiment, and that various changes and modifications may be effected therein without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention, except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

I. A device for controlling the sinkers and dividers on a straight-bar knitting machine wherein the sinkers and dividers are movable in a sinker head and have butts projecting upwardly therefrom by which the sinkers and dividers are returned simultaneously in the direction corresponding to movement of said butts away from the head; said device comprising a carrier bar, means supporting said carrier bar for movement toward and away from the sinker head in a fixed horizontal plane, an abutment bar extending along said carrier bar to engage the butts of the divides for pushing the latter in the direction corresponding to movement of said butts of the dividers toward the sinker head during movement of said carrier in the same direction, a pivotal bar longitudinally coextensive with said carrier bar, means rockably mounting said pivotal bar on said carrier bar for movement with the latter toward and away from the sinker head and for movement relative to the carrier bar between a raised, inactive position, where said pivotal bar is disposed above the top edges of the butts of the sinkers to avoid interference with the individual movement of the latter in the direction corresponding to the movement of their butts toward the sinker head, and a lowered, active position where said pivotal bar is engageable with the butts of the sinkers and dividers to simultaneously return the sinkers and dividers in response to movement of said car rier bar in the direction away from the sinker head while said pivotal bar is in said lowered, active position, means for moving said carrier bar toward and away from the sinker head, and means for controlling the position of said pivotal bar relative to said carrier bar independent of the movement of the latter relative to the sinker head.

2. A device as in claim 1; wherein said pivotal bar is disposed above said carrier bar and projects beyond a longitudinal edge of the latter in the direction towards the sinker head, said pivotal bar having a depending flange extending therealong which, in said lowered, active position of the pivotal bar, is spaced from said abutment bar in the direction toward the sinker head to define a down- Wardly opening groove between said abutment bar and depending flange which is adapted to receive and align the butts of the sinkers and dividers.

3. A device as in claim 1; wherein said means rockably mounting said pivotal bar on said carrier bar includes tumbler levers rockably mounted, intermediate their ends, on said carrier bar and each connected, at one end, to said pivotal bar; and wherein said means for controlling the position of said pivotal bar includes a control shaft, an arm extending radially from said control shaft for each of said tumbler levers and having an extension at its free end defining a guiding groove extending substantially horizontally, and a roller on the other end of each of said tumbler levers received in said guiding groove of the related radially extending arm to rock said tumbler levers in response to turning of said control shaft for altering the position of said pivotal bar relative to said carrier bar, and to move along the related guiding groove for maintaining the position of said pivotal bar relative to said carrier bar during the movement of said pivotal bar with said carrier bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 471,233 Great Britain Aug. 31, 1937 616,197 Germany July 29, 1935 703,635 Germany Mar. 13, 1941 

